Learn more about the Mount Pisgah Christian School, 9820 Nesbit Ferry Road, Alpharetta, at www.experiencepisgah.org.
Curling up with a good book isn’t always a solitary activity in the lower grades of Mount Pisgah Christian School. A significant part of the literacy program at the Alpharetta academy gives young readers time to sit beside a classmate in the “elbow-elbow-knee-knee” position kids have come to call EEKK.
“They love it,” said Deb Knoblock, the interim head of the lower school division that includes kindergarten through fifth grades. “The kids get partnered up and can read together, trade off page by page or read to each other. Sometimes they choose friends at similar reading levels, but they might be reading with a student at a different level so they can learn from each other.”
EEKK is just one of the ways language and literacy is taught at the school that has 967 students in pre-school through high school classes. Those just learning to read are given options from a list called the Daily Five that allows them to pick from a menu that includes reading independently, writing, reading to someone, listening to someone read and practicing word exercises. Students work on activities in 20-minute blocks that have a secondary benefit: They give teachers more time to work one-on-one with students having difficulties.
“The program is based on research about how long students are able to maintain upper cortex functioning in acquiring language skills and how it’s important to differentiate instruction by where the student is in their reading level,” explained Knoblock. “It also has teachers setting goals and keeping records of students’ progress in fluency, comprehension, reading accuracy and vocabulary.”
The school initiated the Daily Five approach three years ago at the kindergarten level, and assessments were conducted at the beginning and end of the year. The results were so positive that it’s now expanded into the first and second grades.
“We’re seeing students make five to seven [reading] level gains through the year,” said Knoblock. “They’re jumping from one grade level to the next. One reason we’ve found is that by using this program, teachers have so much more individual time with their students, and they can get a much better handle on where they are in acquiring or having difficulties with reading skills.”
Students, however, are engaged not because of results but because the literacy activities are fun, as first-grader Lily Harlow attests. “I like reading elbow to elbow, knee to knee. It lets me practice with a friend.”
The students’ enthusiasm is evident in their willingness to crack a book and read aloud, something not always easy for early readers. “But they really love it,” Knoblock said. “You can see it when they’re reading to each other. They’re really engaged. And that needs to happen early: Kindergarten through second grade are the learning-to-read years. By the end of second grade, students should be on grade level and ready to transition onto reading-to-learn, not learning to read.”
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